This invention relates to a roll-on applicator for a liquid or pasty product, especially for a cosmetic or pharmaceutical product, the device being of the type comprising a container and an applicator means consisting of a ball. This invention also relates to a process for the manufacture of this device.
Numerous applicators comprising one or more balls are known. They are used extensively for the application of cosmetic products, e.g. deodorants. These devices generally consist of a bottle made of glass, rigid plastic or flexible plastic, a housing system for the ball (or balls), one or more balls and a closure device. This closure device can be disposed upstream of the ball, e.g. as in FR-A-2 619 689 and FR-A-2 623 476, or downstream of the ball. In the second case, the closure device generally consists of a cap covering the ball. The ball may consist in the known manner of a spherical, oval or cylindrical rolling body. In the remainder of the description and in the claims, the term "ball" will be used as a generic term covering all the abovementioned types of rolling body.
Roll-on applicators are costly devices, both as a result of the price of the different components forming the device and as a result of the cost of the labour required for their final assembly in the factory, as this assembly necessarily consists of one operation for filling the container, one operation for fitting the ball system and one operation for closing the protective cap for the ball (or balls).
This type of packaging can therefore only be used for products of high added value or for products allowing for numerous applications for a low volume. It is therefore desired to reduce the manufacturing costs of packaging of this kind, so that it can be used for a wider range of products.
In addition, it is also desired to provide samples of the products sold in this type of packaging in a roll-on pack. A promotional presentation of this kind also demands a low cost price.